Hopeful millionaires will be lining up in droves this weekend as the Powerball jackpot exploded to $1.7 billion after no one matched all six numbers in Wednesday’s drawing.
The elusive combo was 3, 16, 29, 61, 69 and red Powerball 22, with a Power Play multiplier of 2.
The prize is now the third largest in U.S. lottery history, trailing only the record $2.04 billion won in 2022 and the $1.765 billion payout in 2023. Both of those jaw-droppers landed in California — fueling plenty of envy across the rest of the country.
If someone finally snags Saturday’s jackpot, they’ll face a life-changing choice: take the $1.7 billion annuity stretched over 30 years, or grab a one-time $770 million lump sum — before the IRS swoops in.
Saturday’s drawing will also mark a historic milestone: 42 straight Powerball draws without a jackpot winner, the longest streak in the game’s history. The old record of 41 ended in April 2024 when a player in Oregon nailed a $1.326 billion pot.
But don’t start spending that cash just yet — the odds of winning remain a mind-bending 1 in 292.2 million. Still, that won’t stop millions from forking over $2 a ticket at gas stations, supermarkets, and liquor stores across 45 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
At a 7-Eleven in Brooklyn, construction worker Tony Rivera, 43, clutched a fistful of tickets and said he’s already dreaming big. “First thing I’d do is buy my mother a house, then disappear to the Caribbean for a month,” he laughed.
In Los Angeles, hairstylist Maria Delgado, 29, said she’d go the opposite direction. “I’d show up to work the next day just to tell my boss I quit — then I’d buy the salon and make her work for me,” she said with a grin.
And in Chicago, retired bus driver Frank Miller, 68, wasn’t shy about his plan: “Two words — private jet. I’ve been on the CTA my whole life, I deserve it,” he joked.
With dreams like that fueling the frenzy, expect ticket sales to skyrocket before Saturday night’s drawing — when someone’s life could change forever… or the jackpot could keep climbing into the stratosphere.
